


Dream man

by Luffymarra



Category: Mass Effect - All Media Types
Genre: Blood Drinking, M/M, some violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-30
Updated: 2018-10-30
Packaged: 2019-08-10 21:49:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,214
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16462979
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Luffymarra/pseuds/Luffymarra
Summary: Kaidan's dreams have a visitor. He really doesn't mind.





	Dream man

**Author's Note:**

  * For [neolith](https://archiveofourown.org/users/neolith/gifts).



> Italic are dreams. Betaed by the wonderful JoUFancyHuh!

Kaidan stopped at the edge of the landing platform overlooking the Duskmoor colony and decided that it lived up to the name. It was a colony set up in the narrow habitable zone of a tidally locked moon. The result was that the sky’s colors were caught in an eternal sunset, the air stayed at a comfortable spring/fall temperature, and the people of the colony moved about with such a relaxed air that Kaidan could feel from here.

The laid-back atmosphere, the beautiful scenery, and the surprising lack of pirate attacks, given how close Duskmoor was to Terminus space, made this a good and highly recommended place to recharge a person’s mind and body.

After the events of the last few years; becoming the first human specter, hunting and fighting Saren and Sovereign, barely escaping being killed by the Collectors, hunting the Collectors and going through the Omega 4 relay, before finally finding the kill switch for all the reapers, which left them drifting in dark space forever, he desperately needed to rest and gather himself once more.

Picking up the bag he had dropped to his side, he started down the path toward the main body of the colony. He had to admire how they redid the outside of the buildings so that they blended in better with the nature around them, further enhancing the peaceful atmosphere. After asking around, he found the check-in building, and was greeted by a friendly Salarian at the desk.

“Hello! Welcome to Duskmoor. Name please.” The Salarian asked, typing rapidly on his keyboard.

“Alenko, Kaidan.”

“Ahh, yes, Spectre Alenko. Pleasure to have you visit our colony. Will your stay be short or long?”

“Just Kaidan will be fine, and I haven’t settled on a length yet. Though I’m leaning on it being on the long side. I have a lot of vacation time saved up.” Kaidan rubbed the back of his head, a bit embarrassed that he didn’t have a solid timeframe for his stay. The Salarian gave him an understanding look, before once more regarding the screen before him.

“Will place you in one of the cabins by the lake. Made for longer stays. Has built in cooking area, bathing, sleeping, and living room. There are several stores around that you can buy supplies. We also have a movie theater that has showings three times a day, water activities on the lake, plus others. A packet with activities  will be sent to the computer in your cabin, along with a setting to help you sync with our colony clocks. Any other questions you have can be brought to us during office hours. Do you have any questions?”

Kaidan shook his head and payed for at least a month, before leaving the building and following the directions toward his cabin. He didn’t notice the eyes that were watching him from the shadows nearby.

***********************

Three days later, Kaidan slowly walked by the lake near Duskmoor; he had to admit that the stories about this place were true.  It was tranquil and beautiful here. It was strange to see the sky at a permanent mixture of sunset colors, instead of the blue sky of earth, but he was beginning to enjoy it. Walking up to one of the purple trees that reminded him of a weeping willow, he sat down against the base and closed his eyes, listening to the wind and call of the birds around the lake.

Before he knew it, he had fallen asleep against the tree, his head slowly falling to the side. As he slept, a figure soundlessly approached him from the shadows, until it stood next to him. It reached out, and ran a hand gently across his forehead, which caused Kaidan to jerk awake and look to his side, only to see no one there. Deciding that maybe sleeping outside wasn’t the best idea, even for such a seemingly safe place as this, he stood up and walked back to the colony, though he couldn’t help looking over his shoulder several times on the way.

********************

That night he had a very strange dream.

_ He was sitting against the same tree from the afternoon, only he was surrounded by fog on all sides. He wasn’t worried though, not even when a figure started to become visible through the mist. Before long a human male was standing a few feet from him, smiling. He was tall, dark-haired, with warm, brown eyes, and a solid build. Kaidan hesitantly smiled back, giving a small wave in greeting. _

_ “Hello.” _

_ “Hello, I’m John. Who might you be?” the stranger asked. _

_ “I’m Kaidan, the fir…” Kaidan stopped himself when he realized the man didn’t seem to know who he was, a rarity in any Citadel space now-a-days. Maybe he could just be Kaidan while he was here, no specter title, no alliance title, just plain old Kaidan. Now if he could just remember who that was. “The…This is my first time to Duskmoor.” _

_ “Ahh, it is a pleasure to meet you Kaidan. How are you finding Duskmoor so far?” John asked, and Kaidan shivered a little at the way his name came from the other man’s month. _

_ “It’s wonderful! I’ve never been to such a wonderful place.” _

_ “I’m glad that you like it. Might I join you?” John asked, motioning to the space beside Kaidan. _

_ “Yes, go ahead.” Kaidan said, moving over to make more room for the other man on the ground. They sat there in silence for a time, and Kaidan was surprised to realize that he was enjoying the other's presence. There was something about John that was calling to him, make him feel safe, for the first time in a long time. _

_ Soon John turned his head to the side and closed his eye, as if he were listening to something. Opening them a moment later, John turned back to Kaidan, a disappointed look in his eyes. _

_ “I need to go, Kaidan. I'm sorry we must cut this visit short, but I'm needed elsewhere. May I see you again?” John asked, his eyes silently begging Kaidan to say yes. _

_ Kaidan huffed a laugh, finding the puppy dog eyes adorable, before nodding his head yes, which got him a brilliant smile in return. _

_ “Then I look forward to our next meeting.” John took Kaidan's hand into his and bow down to kiss the back of it. Releasing it, John stood and disappeared back into the fog, leaving a blushing and flustered Kaidan behind. _

Kaidan blinked awake, then jerked upright and looked around his room in bewilderment. Had it all been a dream? He brought up the hand John had kissed and rubbed gently against the top of it. He could have sworn he had been by that tree, he could remember the feeling of the bark, the grass against his hand, the feeling of John's lips on his skin. If what he had experienced had been a dream, why did he still feel John's mouth on the back of his hand?

***************

Over the next three weeks, Kaidan began to look forward to sleeping at night. Instead of the nightmares that had been plaguing his every sleeping hour, his dreams now filled with John. They talked about anything, from sports to politics, to their lives, though he couldn't help but feel that John held back on that topic. Not that he wasn't doing the same thing... Maybe once they knew each other better, they could share secrets.

The areas that they visited in each dream changed too. Sometimes they were sitting under a tree, others they walked through the colony and John pointed out places for Kaidan to visit. A couple of times they sat on a blanket in a ledge overlooking the lake, and recently they had started to walk around the lake, each time moving closer to each other.

_ They had been walking for what seemed like hours, their fingers laced together, and their shoulders brushing against each other. Kaidan smiled as he thought about how hesitant John was when he had tentatively taken Kaidan’s hand, and the smile that covered his face when Kaidan intertwined their fingers and squeezed hard. The relieved look that crossed John’s face had caused something warm to bloom in Kaidan’s chest. Finally, John stopped and pulled Kaidan around to face him, and raised his free hand to cup Kaidan’s face, his thumb gently caressing the biotic’s cheek. _

_ Kaidan leaned into the touch with a happy sigh, he looked up and seeing the sadness in John’s eyes, brought his hand up to cover John’s. _

_ “What’s the matter, John?” Kaidan asked, moving his hand to the other’s face. _

_ “It’ll be time for you to go soon, won’t it? You only booked to stay here for a month after all, and that time ends today.” _

_ Kaidan blinked in shock and realized John was right, how had the time gone by so fast, without him even noticing. He was pulled out of his shock when John pulled his head forward, so that their foreheads rested against each other. _

_ “I don’t want to have to say goodbye to you. I’ve come to care for you a great deal. Please stay a little longer, there’s something I need to tell you, and I’ve almost worked up the courage to do it.” John pleaded, and Kaidan found his chest tightened painfully at the thought of never seeing John again. _

_ “I’ll extend my stay. I want to know what it is that you need to tell me. I’ve also come to care for you a great deal, John.” Kaidan told him, watching a beaming smile light up his face, and Kaidan found that the tightening in his chest had loosened its hold. _

_ Suddenly, John whooped with delight and switched from holding his hand to hugging him, leading Kaidan through an impromptu dance, and after a moment John leaned in to kiss Kaidan on the cheek. _

Kaidan opened his eyes feeling like his chest would burst with happiness. He reached up and touched the place on his cheek that John had kissed. Never in his wildest dreams did he think he would love some…

“Kaidan, you idiot.” He scolded himself, feeling his happiness dimming fast.

He had let himself fall for a man in his dreams, which had to be the stupidest thing he had ever done. John wasn’t real, he  _ couldn’t _ be! He was a dream, just a wonderful, beautiful dream, and yet a part of Kaidan couldn’t except that. He was sure that he had seen John around the colony, out in the open when Kaidan had been wide awake. There were also all the little gifts that he found laying around his house. Stuff no one would think he liked, unless he had told them, and John was the only person on this planet that he had told his likes too.

Getting out of bed, he started to get ready. He needed answers, and it was well past time for him to look for them. First though, if he planned to find anything, he would need to extend his stay just like he had promised John he would do. Besides the check-in building would be a good place to start to try and find information out about someone.

***********************************

Kaidan sighed in frustration a week later. While the attendant at the check-in had been able to give him John’s last name, which was Shepard, he had clammed up after that and refused to say anything else. So, he had started to ask around the other inhabitants of Duskmoor. Most of them hadn’t known who he was talking about, other could only tell him that Shepard was a great man and somehow watched over the colony, driving the pirates away. Though one person did say that Shepard had been there since the founding of the colony nearly 60 years ago. Which Kaidan knew couldn't be true. Shepard only looked like he was 30 at most. 

When he questioned people in a high enough position to tell him more details, they were too careful with what they said to gain anything useful from them.

To make matters worse, Kaidan hadn’t dreamed of John all week. It hurt something deep inside of him to think that John was avoiding him. Sighing, he tossed a rock into the lake nearby before slowly standing up. Just when he was contemplating calling it an early night, with the thin hope that John would be there tonight, he heard a voice call out to him.

“Hey! You’re the guy looking for Shepard, right?” A turian asked, walking up to him.

“Yeah  that would be me. Do you know where he is?” Kaidan asked, watching the turian, confused that someone would suddenly come up to him after all this time.

“He actually lives on the edge of the north side of the colony. The side that most tourist don’t go to. That’s probably why you haven’t found him yet. He tends to hide from a lot of people there. Why don’t I take you to him,” the turian asked, stepping closer to Kaidan. Which made the biotic back away to keep some space between them. Something about all of this didn’t feel right, and Kaidan had learned to trust his instincts long ago.

“Actually, I think I’ll pass tonight. It’s late and I should get back to the mess hall before dinner is over.” Kaidan said, then let out a shock wave toward the turian, and turning to run while he was distracted. Only to stop short, when he came face to face with more strangers, some of them turian, some human, and a few salarians. They quickly formed a circle around him, trapping him in the middle, guns raised and pointed at his chest. He slowly raised his hands and tried to think of a way out of this, but before he could he felt a sharp pain in the back of his head, which force him to his knees. As black clouded his vision, he heard the turian talking.

“He just had to do things the hard way. Take him back to the ship and secure him. He’ll make the perfect bait.”

Then everything faded away.

**************************

Waking up was not fun. There was a throbbing in his head that wasn’t being helped by the people nearby yelling at each other.

“He’s the first human specter! How could you even think of taking him! That group doesn’t take kindly to people messing with their own, you’ll have the bulk coming down on our heads!” A male human yelled at the turian that had ambushed him.

“I don’t care who he is! I want Shepard, and he’s the perfect bait to get him here. Everyone at the colony was whispering about how that spirit-damned man has taken a liking to the spectre here. So, I'll take any chance I can to finally end that demon, no matter the cost.”

Kaidan slowly raised his head and glared at him from the chair he was tied to.

“Aww look, the little spectre finally joined the land of the waking. Have any nice dreams?”

Kaidan opened his mouth to tell the turian off, when two new humans entered the room.

“Mac, Jo, I thought I told you to stay outside and keep watching for Shepard. You’re supposed to warn us when he’s coming! Get back to your posts!” the turian shouted, staking toward the men, but he froze when they raised their weapons and pointed them at the small group in the room. “By the spirits, what do you two idiots think you are doing?! Are those bite marks on your necks?!”

As they begin to fire, a red streak rushed through the door and rammed into the turian, sending him into the wall at the back of the room.

“You went too far, just like all the others before you. You’ll never touch what I care about again!”

Kaidan’s eyes widened at hearing the very familiar voice, before cringing at the sound of snapping neck bones. Looking toward the back of the room, he saw a man standing over the dead body of the turian.

“Go back outside and make sure we aren’t disturbed.”

The two men in the doorway bowed and left, leaving only two people alive in that room.

When the man turned around, Kaidan could only stare in shock. It was him, the man from his dreams. John! His John! Only he looked different. Paler, he radiated an aura of power, and his eyes were now a  golden color. There was also a good amount of blood around his mouth and down his neck.

“You’re a Vampire?!” Kaidan yelled, his mouth hanging open in shock.

“Yeah that would be the thing I’ve been building up the courage to tell you. I’m so sorry, Kaidan. I never meant for you to get hurt because of me.” John pulled a piece of cloth off one of the bodies and wiped his mouth before slowly approaching Kaidan. When the biotic didn’t flinch from him, he breathed a sigh of relief, and cut Kaidan free.

“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” Kaidan asked, rubbing his sore wrists, and standing so he was face to face with John.

“I wanted you to like me for me. Not the exotic nature of being a vampire.”

“So, you used dreams to date me?!”

“Something like that. I’ve protected Duskmoor and other towns like it for a very long time. I take out the people that would hurt innocents and in return, they willingly let me feed once a week. But it gets lonely after a time. Most of the people I’ve ever met have only seen the vampire part of me. The part that can give them immortality. They never saw  _ me!  _ When I saw you, I felt a pull toward you, and I wanted you to be different. Sooo yes, I used dreams to date you. Are you mad?” John asked, trying to gauge his reaction.

Kaidan shook his head and placed his hand against the other’s face.

“A little disappointed that you kept this secret for so long but considering there are a few things I left out about myself, I can’t be truly mad. Tell you what, how about you get me out of this place and we start to get to know each other outside our dreams?”

John leaned into Kaidan’s touch and nodded his head, hope beginning to burn in his chest.

***********************

Three years later:

Kaidan wrenched as the man he hit went flying a good ten feet away from him.

“Again, beloved?” John asked, amusement coating his voice.

“Shut up, love. It’s not my fault I’m still getting use to the new speed and strength. I never realized being a vampire would affect me so much.” Getting a wicked gleam in his eyes, Kaidan walked up to John and wrapped his arms around his neck, pulling the other man’s head down so that his lips were right next to the other’s ear. “If we finish this group of pirates quickly enough, we could always go home and get in a little  _ training _ , maybe in our room.”

John laughed at Kaidan’s hint, nodded his head in agreement, and leant in for a kiss.

 


End file.
